Pentagon Reassigns Controversial Guantanamo Legal Adviser As War Court Czar
Pentagon Reassigns Controversial Guantanamo Legal Adviser As War Court Czar
As legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann has been one of the most aggressive advocates for the Bush administration’s military commissions. In fact, three separate judges have barred him from acting as an impartial legal adviser at the trial of detainees. Judge Stephen Henley said that Hartmann had “compromised the objectivity necessary to dispassionately and fairly evaluate the evidence and prepare the post-trial evaluation.” In the case of Salim Hamdan, a military judge ruled that Hartmann had “exerted improper influence on the case.”
The Pentagon has now quietly removed Hartmann. But as the Miami Herald notes, instead of being fired, Hartmann has essentially become a “war court czar in charge of logistics.” Pentagon acting general counsel, Daniel Dell’Orto, released a statement yesterday, nowhere mentioning Hartmann’s inappropriate advocacy activities:
Gen. Hartmann has driven the commissions process forward since his arrival in July 2007. In no small part because of his efforts and his dedication, the commissions are an active, operational legal system. Due to the dramatic increase in the number of military commission cases, the more than doubling of personnel, and the various policy, logistics and systems issues that arise regularly and frequently in the commissions, it is necessary to establish a more comprehensive executive support structure.
In an interview with the Miami Herald, Hartmann said that in his new job, he would be making sure that war on terror prosecutions move along briskly. “I want those courtrooms to be as filled up as they can possibly be — six days a week,” he said.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2007, Hartmann repeatedly refused to call the hypothetical waterboarding of an American pilot by the Iranian military torture. Shortly thereafter, Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Williams, a JAG officer with the U.S. Naval Reserve, resigned, saying that Hartmann’s testimony was the “last straw” and “sold all the soldiers and sailors at risk of capture and subsequent torture down the river.”
In August, deputy prison camp commander, Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti testified that Hartmann was “abusive, bullying and unprofessional” and employed a “spray and pray” strategy to stage tribunals at Camp Justice.
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September 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pm“Due to the dramatic increase in the number of military commission cases, the more than doubling of personnel, and the various policy, logistics and systems issues that arise regularly and frequently in the commissions, it is necessary to establish a more comprehensive executive support structure…”
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Uh, one small correction, if I may?
“to establish a more comprehensive EXECUTING support structure…”
There… all better, no?
September 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pmArmy Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti testified that Hartmann [...] employed a “spray and pray” strategy…
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A “spray and pray” strategy??? WTF??? Is he a Born-again Pepe LePeeuw?
September 20th, 2008 at 3:27 pmThe Republic of Stupidity Says:
A “spray and pray” strategy??? WTF??? Is he a Born-again Pepe LePeeuw?
No, TRoS, he is the Tom Delay of Pentagon attorneys.
September 20th, 2008 at 3:36 pmWaltTheMan Says:
No, TRoS, he is the Tom Delay of Pentagon attorneys.
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The Bug Man? Shuuuudder…
Mebbe we can use him on GOOPers, after the Fall…
… Ya know, help get some answers out ‘em, huh?
September 20th, 2008 at 3:45 pmOh goody
Promotion for yet another fascist phuck.
Mebbe something Really Really Really bad will happen to him…
A fella can hope, caint he?
September 20th, 2008 at 3:46 pm.
I still have one question to ask:
IS GUANTANAMO LEGAL?
I know the BushCo argue it is, but under Geneva Conventions which the Senate approved and never rescinded, indefinite detention of persons captured on the battlefield(aka POW’s), inhumane treatment of these POW’s, and trials designed to restrict and remove civil Rights granted to them by the country that is holding them… IS GUANTANAMO LEGAL?
And if not, does it matter the position of the cheerleader in the squad that oversees this criminal act? The higher you go, the farther you fall…
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September 20th, 2008 at 4:00 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Is it NOT hypocritical to claim authority to hold WAR COURT TRIALS when, at the same time, you claim being exempt from INTERNATIONAL WAR COURTS?
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September 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pmWOW ! That sure is a move toward impartial and fair trial !
But I suppose they;re desperate for a conviction in late October
September 20th, 2008 at 4:45 pm“…Ideological polarization and lack of respect for empirical thinking that have afflicted US politics in recent years.”
A study of the Pentagon’s satellite imagery concludes that ethnic cleansing — not last year’s surge of U.S. military forces — is the main factor in the reduction of violence in Iraq.
The report’s conclusion about the surge’s ineffectiveness are supported by many Iraq experts and international organizations who credit a population shift with the decline of sectarian violence, especially in Baghdad, Reuters reported.
September 20th, 2008 at 5:00 pmI had to take out an@lysis and replace it with thinking in order to pass the TP filter!!
September 20th, 2008 at 5:01 pmHow much you want to bet that this Thomas Hartmann creep is a “good little Christian,” like Boykin, and Goodling, and Gonzales, and Bush?
The perversion of our military is complete.
The “good little Christians” have taken over and through their heavy-handed endorsement of torture have demeaned all those currently serving as well as all those, like myself, who have served.
September 20th, 2008 at 5:35 pmHe’s another like Bush and Cheney and most of the Republican party,never been in combat,never put his life on the line! Just another Bush sycophant, doing the masters work!
September 20th, 2008 at 6:07 pmHe’s nothing but a G*d Damn lawyer! All those ribbons he’s wearing in the photo are G-Dunk medals for meritorious service for being in a certain place at a certain time! Or maybe humming the Star-Spangled Banner on Bush’s Love Torpedo!
Troops getting out of Air Force Bootcamp has almost as many ribbon’s as him!
I can talk trash about him because I am a 100% disabled Marine Corp Corporal ‘66-’69 (Nam’67-’68) Guys like him are a dime a dozen, Phuck Him!
Twelve to one General kissass gets his medal of freedumb next week…
September 20th, 2008 at 7:19 pmWhy does the US have such an infatuation with tsars, czars, tzars? The freaks b itch about socialism and such but endlessly assign folks to be tzars over unsolvable shit. Maybe if we all worked together….
September 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pmI’m sure he will do very well at fast-forwarding the kangaroo courts. God I hope that Obama will be able to undo all this damage Bush is doing.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:14 pmHAGUE 2009!
September 21st, 2008 at 1:12 amHis name and conduct reminds me of an infamous GySgt Hartman….full metal jacket anyone ?
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm